The Hawks have had trouble with the Nashville Predators all season, and after a reassuring win against the Hurricanes on Friday, went back to square one in a shutout loss agains their division rivals. Pekka Rinne would make 29 saves in a lackluster effort by Chicago, who’s inconsistent play is becoming more concerning as the playoffs approach. The loss dropped Chicago six points behind the division-leading Blues, who earned two more points today in a win against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The game was physical if nothing else, and the gloves were dropped early as Sheldon Brookbank and Rich Clune went after each other just 5 minutes into the first period. The fight would end in a draw with neither player getting an edge over another. The fight was just the tip of the iceberg, as the Hawks would get the crowd going with two tremendous hits by Andrew Shaw and Jeremy Morin on Nashville players, the latter of which would result in a four-minute Hawks power play.

The Hawks would fail to convert on the PP, and the Predators would take advantage of chaos around the net later in the period to score their first goal of the night with less than two minutes to go in the first, as Mike Fisher tipped in a puck past Corey Crawford off of a pass from Ryan Ellis.

The goal was all but unstoppable for Crawford, but the second goal the Predators scored was undoubtedly one he would’ve liked back. The timing was almost identical to the scoring of the first goal, as the Predators made a push late in the period to double their lead. Gabriel Borque would score his seventh goal of the season as he rushed up the left wing and got a clear shot on Crawford, who couldn’t get his glove on the shot.

The Hawks were perfect on the penalty kill for the evening, but failed to get any traction on their power play, going 0 for 4 in the evening. The couldn’t solve Rinne, and the loss sent them to a 10-12-3 record against Central Division opponents- their worst out of any division.

Stars of the Game:

1. Pekka Rinne: 29 SVs, 1.000 SV%, First shutout of season

2. Shea Weber: 1 SOG, 4 H, 34:14 TOI

3. Mike Fisher: 1 G, 3 SOG, 21:47 TOI

Quick Hits

- Nashville rookie defenseman Seth Jones wouldn’t finish the game after experiencing concussion-like symptoms early in the game after a monstrous hit by Shaw.

- The ‘Teuvo watch’ continued as Teuvo Teravainen took warmups with the Hawks again tonight but did not play. Coach Joel Quenneville said that there’s a ‘good chance’ that the forward will play on Tuesday against the Stars.